BHS baseball blasts Silverado 12-0 in DSL home opener

Friday

Apr 4, 2014 at 1:30 PM

RIDGECREST — In its first home league game of the season, the Burroughs baseball team delivered a decisive victory. The Burros shut out Silverado 12-0 at Ed Dilley Field on Thursday, sparked by five scoreless innings from starting pitcher Jase Young and a six-run fourth inning.

By Anthony GentileSPORTS EDITORagentile@ridgecrestca.com

RIDGECREST — In its first home league game of the season, the Burroughs baseball team delivered a decisive victory. The Burros shut out Silverado 12-0 at Ed Dilley Field on Thursday, sparked by five scoreless innings from starting pitcher Jase Young and a six-run fourth inning. “We played well today in all three facets — we hit, we played defense when we needed to, and pitched well enough to get by the miscues we had,” Burros head coach John Bradley said. “I’m happy with the way we played today.”After Young struck out the side in 11 pitches to start the game, Burroughs (7-2, 2-1 DSL) jumped out to an early lead. Center fielder Ryan Sanford turned a leadoff walk into the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning.After walking, Sanford stole second base then advanced to third when third baseman Stephen Hillis walked in the next at-bat. With Hillis caught in a rundown between first and second base in the following at-bat, Sanford raced home to put the Burros up 1-0.Burroughs added three more runs in the bottom of the third to extend its lead to 4-0. Hillis walked and left fielder Biggie Hernandez singled to lead off the inning, and both scored when catcher Jeremiah Johnson hit a one-out single to right field. After Johnson’s two-run single, Silverado starting pitcher Zach Lara left the game with an injury. Hawks reliever Vincent Garcia put on the first two batters he faced to load the bases, and Burroughs shortstop Daryan Robinson laid down a bunt that scored a run to give BHS a four-run advantage.“We squared up baseballs all day,” Bradley said. “We had a couple breakout innings, where all of sudden we’re hitting line drives and hitting them where they’re not — that leads to runs and it’s good.”In the bottom of the fourth, Burroughs capitalized on Hawks’ control issues and defensive miscues to turn the game into a blowout. The Burros scored six runs on three hits in a rally that started with five straight batters reaching base safely. Sanford and Hillis got on base to start the inning, setting the table for Hernandez. On the first pitch he saw, Hernandez blasted a three-run home run over the left-center field wall — his third of the season — to put Burroughs ahead 7-0.“The ball just kept carrying,” Bradley said. “The kid just generates so much backspin on his hits — when he gets them, he gets them. He definitely can hit, and it’s a fun thing to watch.”A walk and two hit batters loaded the bases after Hernandez’s shot, and pinch hitter David Hill approached the plate with a chance to add to the Burros’ lead. After getting ahead in the count, Hill laced a 2-0 double to center field that cleared the bases and made it a 10-0 game.“I knew that he was going to get into the game today, and he’s been taking batting practice well the last week. He took a good round of batting practice yesterday, so it’s not a surprise,” Bradley said. “David Hill is such a competitor — he competes every time he goes out there and he wants to be successful.”Burroughs added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to put a bow on its double-digit victory over Silverado (3-7, 1-2). With two outs, Johnson and right fielder Darnell Prince accounted for the scoring with back-to-back RBI singles.Young (W, 3-1) scattered three hits over five shutout innings to pick up the victory. The right-hander struck out nine while walking none in the 62-pitch outing.“Jase is going to get quite a bit of innings for us — he’s one of our main guys,” Bradley said. “He’s spending more time right now coming in in the reliever role, but he’s got three or four more starts through this thing. He was effective — he threw multiple pitches for strikes and his first-pitch strike ratio was up.”Reliever JP Pooley struck out three in two scoreless innings to complete Burroughs’ second shutout of the season. Two days after suffering their biggest defeat of the season, the Burros responded by notching their most lopsided win of the campaign. “If you put up 12 runs, that’s outstanding,” Bradley said. “But what’s even better at the high school level is not giving up a run — when you don’t give up a run in seven innings, that’s impressive.”Hernandez went 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored in the win. Johnson was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs, Prince finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and stolen base, and Hill had three RBIs and a hit in two at-bats — each of the Burros’ first five hitters scored at least twice in the contest.Burroughs’ DSL home opener was celebrated with Military Day — each Burros’ player took the field with a member of the Navy, and the China Lake Navy Color Guard provided the colors for the national anthem. Murray Middle School eighth-grader Chase Cracraft performed the national anthem with a saxophone, and Sierra Sands Unified School District superintendent Joanna Rummer threw out the first pitch. Burroughs continues DSL play on Tuesday against league leader Victor Valley (10-3, 3-0) at Ed Dilley Field. First pitch is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. — Sanford is projected to be the Burros’ starting pitcher against the Jackrabbits.

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